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McNeill embracing second chance with Team Canada

National Junior selection camp player Mark McNeill (left) from Edmonton, Alberta, battles for the puck with CIS University of Calgary Dinos' Kodie Curran during exhibition hockey action in Calgary, Alta. on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012.Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry Mac Dougal

RUSSIA — Mark McNeill had just digested the news that he wasn’t going to be a part of Team Canada’s quest for gold when his phone jangled early Thursday morning.

Now instead of playing reluctant spectator, he is in Russia for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Junior World Championship.

“Thrilled to be here,” he said after the team went for its first skate at the Ufa Arena, the venue where Canada begins its quest for gold against Germany on Boxing Day. “I think I would have watched if I had been home. Obviously I was disappointed but I’m too much of a fan to not watch.

“But I had only been home for a couple of days then the phone rang at 6:30, 7 in the morning.”

McNeill, an Edmonton-born student of the Prince Albert Raiders, is stepping in for Charles Hudon, who injured his back in a pre-tournament practice in Finland late last week. McNeill drove from Edmonton to Calgary, flew to Frankfurt then met the team in Helsinki. The Canadians landed in Russia early Monday.

“The guys have been great, very welcoming and the coaches have been filling me in on what I missed out on,” McNeill continued. “They brought me here to play the type of game that I play. They want my versatility, a big body, a physical presence out there.”

Coach Steve Spott and the Canadian staff have taken great pains to ensure that the players can handle the jet lag but McNeill is a few days behind in his preparation.

Spott said special steps will be taken to ensure the winger is as ready as possible, a process that started with McNeill immediately falling in line with the new time zone.

And now they wait

A hearing was to be held Monday night to determine the fate of Boone Jenner. The Canadian winger knocked Sweden’s Jesper Pettersson out of the tournament with a dislocated shoulder, hitting him a hit in a lead-up exhibition game.

All teams must submit their rosters on Christmas Day and can leave a spot open. If the IIHF still hasn’t rendered a decision, Canada will have to decide whether or not to put the Columbus Blue Jackets 2011 draft pick on their list.

“Absolutely. I’m very concerned,” said Spott. “You don’t know how a hearing is going to go but ultimately we put together a package we think is fair. We understand it was a late hit, but Boone’s hands were down, his elbows were down, and there was no contact to the end.”

Play hard, play smart

After a 3-2 loss to Finland and a 2-1 shootout win over Sweden, the Canadians have some explaining to do given the top-end offensive talent on the roster.

Spott quickly pointed to the penalties.

A total of 11 players took 18 penalties in the two games.

“Obviously it can’t happen like that,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is not only captain but the offensive catalyst who needs to be on the ice playing, not on the bench watching the penalty kill. “But as that (second) game went on we started to be more disciplined with our sticks.

“That’s just learning,” said Ryan Strome. Discipline is something we’re learning each day.”

One of the learning tools is video, and Spott has been cueing up the snippets.

“We have to stay out of the penalty box,” the head coach said. “People ask why haven’t we scored a lot? Because we’ve been killing a lot of penalties. A lot of our best players have been sitting on the bench. It is a concern but we’ve shown them the clips . . . they understand the standard. We expect we’ll turn the page on that.”

He went on to add that his charges have to score more dirty goals. Play more of a Canadian game.

“We haven’t done that yet. Everything has been off the rush, and us trying to be cute,” he said. “I think when you have a collective group like we have, there’s only one puck and sometimes, they don’t want to give it up. Ultimately, it’s about them getting used to each other, finding some chemistry and scoring some dirty goals.”